[OPINION] Rich filmmakers who probably haven't paid money to go see a film in a regular modern cinema in years/decades need to stop running their mouths about "the sanctity of the movie theater experience" and admonishing home viewing, which is often a far purer film experience these days.

Rant forthcoming...No shortage of recent examples, the most prominent obviously being Spielberg's alleged attempts to get made-for-streaming films banned from the Oscars.To be clear right off the bat - I love the cinema experience. Or rather, the ideal cinema experience. But that's become so rare as to be a complete gamble these days, and very often ends up being the shitty cinema experience. Whereas I can watch a movie at home and know it's not going to get diminished or outright ruined by any number of constant social or technical problems.Do any of the free premieres and private screenings Spielberg attends include people browsing Instagram on their blinding white phones every 20 minutes, or unchecked kids talking or crying? Has he dealt with people constantly getting up and walking through your FOV to go to the bathroom or get snacks at inexplicable times during a film, breaking your immersion? Or not being able to afford to see more than one film every month or two due to increasingly ridiculous costs?There's also the technical issues which have become outright depressing now. 3D looks terrible compared to Blu-Ray - dark, blurry, thoroughly diluting of anything the cinematographer was trying to accomplish - but is often the only option available to see something depending on where you live. There are films I don't even feel like I've seen until watching them properly at home, because the 3D muddled things so badly. Sound has also become an issue - contrary to the idea that a home audio setup can never compete with the cinema, I've found that theater sound is absolutely pathetic these days compared to watching Netflix with a good pair of headphones, and am often straining to hear dialogue and am utterly unmoved by the weak music. The only consistent exception there is IMAX and UltraAVX which is gloriously loud, but that can be a problem too if it's, for example, a Nolan film, who for all his big talk about the theater experience is one of of the worst offenders for ruining it with his infamously shrill mixing that leaves viewers covering their ears, only able to enjoy his work in a controlled environment months later at home.The "movie theater experience" is great when it's the good version - nobody on their phones, nobody misbehaving, perfect picture and audio, within your budget, a whole audience communally having a great time being immersed in a film together. In practice however, this perfect storm of awesome happens maybe one in five times by my reckoning these days, and more often than not it's way more immersive, impressive and pure to watch a film on an HD screen with headphones, no distractions and privacy at home. So the Hollywood elite needs a reality check about the evils of watching their films on the small screen - it's often the only way to really appreciate them now. via /r/movies https://ift.tt/2u14bBh